I read. A lot. This blog contains my ramblings; thoughts - both constructed and disjointed, reviews to new and old works of fiction (and some fact). My tastes know no genre boundaries nor medium - from noir to fantasy, novel to comics.

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Sunday, April 14, 2013

For a
wealthy couple who have everything, their lives are a constant reminder that
without children they can never feel complete. Having tried and failed in many
attempts at falling pregnant, the couple seek out an unorthodox doctor hidden
from the world, shrouded in secrecy, and whispered upon a terrifyingly cold
midnight breeze who claims a 100% success rate – only there’s a side effect
which threatens to tear the family limb by limb.

Chase
Novak’s New York is one brimming with night terrors and extreme love, loss,
life, and death – not so different from fact yet this fiction is gory laden
with a sickly sweet purpose that exemplifies the desperation of parenthood amid
unearthly cravings and animalistic instincts.

BREED will
pull, stretch and sever a parents heart strings through a heartfelt horror
that’s bleeding cool and very readable.

Friday, April 12, 2013

QUIVER is a
fix-up novel comprising four zombie themed novellas which detail a young woman’s
fight for survival in a world long turned dead. Spanning multiple continents
and exploring some unique concepts, this globetrotting tour of death places the
bow and arrow wielding heroine, Tamsyn Webb, in some dire and utterly
enthralling predicaments – some of which more macabre than others, yet all
deadly and confronting.

Starting
with GRAVESEND and finishing with BETTER RED THAN UNDEAD, QUIVER encapsulates
many of the tried and true formulas common to survival horror; the building of
fortifications, scavenging, zombie (or coffin-dodger) hoards and their
migration, the fall of Government and the rise of independent parties, but the
most important component of this zombie post apocalyptic concoction is the
humans themselves who are commonly more inhumane than the walking dead. Fischer
goes to great lengths to portray a dead world whose living soles are rotten and
more menacing than those who threaten to end mans existence.

I enjoyed QUIVER for the most part. At times
more Michael Bay than Romero, however the omnipresent sense of dread and heart
pounding overriding fear experienced by the survivors remained consistent
throughout. As a YA novel, QUIVER was less gritty and raw than the zombie books
I’m accustomed to - that said, Fischer wrote this story well given the confines.

A highlight
for me was the place setting of each instalment. Firstly a fortified compound
in Gravesend, followed by an ill-fated voyage aboard a dying ship, and subsequent
visitations to a Texas gone mad and a Cuba rife with war - this helped to keep
the story of decay fresh and provided a unique perspective of how the world
coped with the zombie outbreak.

Overall,
QUIVER is an entertaining read that starts off with a bang, morphs into more of
an action book, before really hitting its straps with the fourth novella,
BETTER RED THAN UNDEAD. Personally, I would’ve given this a 5 star rating had
all four novellas resembled the story in the last instalment. 3.5 stars.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

HEAD GAMES
expands on the magical keys first introduced in WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT with this
later instalment focusing on a key which has the ability open a person’s head,
exposing their memories for all to see. It also allows for knowledge to be
quickly accumulated (reading a book negated by simply placing the book directly
inside a person’s head). This was all a little weird (but I should’ve gathered
that from the title) and a little removed from the anywhere key (which allows
you to travel through time and place) and the ghost key (which turns you into a
ghost) shown in WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT. Joe Hill certainly bumped up the strange
in the second instalment.

Where
WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT focused on a horrific and violent event, HEAD GAMES moves
towards the pure horror and speculative fiction angel. This time round, a
mysterious and dangerous man is the centre of the story and his impact on the
recovering Locke family is sure to be bloody. His thirst for the keys
unrelenting, his menace quiet and unassuming. I like the direction Joe Hill is
taking this series.

While HEAD
GAMES was an enjoyable and extremely well paced read (even the back-story sequences
well executed), this wasn’t as good as WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT, then again, I don’t
suspect many graphic novels will be. 3 stars.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A TV
repairman is lured into the world of adultery and false promises by a heavenly
blonde with a perfect shape and healthy bedroom appetite. Hob Sampson, is
trying to make ends meet when he’s shunned by the bank when asking for a loan
to further his business. Slowly, the reasons unravel with his father’s past the
reason for his financial difficulties. If ever Hob needed to settle a score,
this was it. The blonde just happens to be the bankers wife and the set-up too
convenient to ignore.

DIAL M FOR
MAN portrays the small town hardships and community run by few, with the
balance of power far from equitable. Hob is an average Joe who succumbs to
irrrestible curves and the promise of a once in a lifetime payoff.

The early
stages of the novel felt comparable to Gil Brewer’s THE VENGEFUL VIRGIN where a
TV repairman (Jack Ruxton) is lured into the arms of a wanton woman only to be
embroiled in a murder scheme. DIAL M FOR MAN is very much the same in premise
but delivered with more emotional and holistic plot depth.

I enjoyed
DIAL M FOR MAN – it’s a thinly plotted pulp that doesn’t miss a beat without
being overly memorable. Recommended for Orrie Hitt fans and pulp enthusiasts.

Monday, April 8, 2013

A
Goodis-like noir full of lust, desperation, and an overwhelming sense of
hopelessness. For Orrie Hitt’s characters, there is no way out of the slums he
so deftly portrays in THE CHEATERS, only a less painful way to make ends.

Cheating is
commonplace, an accepted pastime in The Dell, one that has kept young woman off
the streets and in beds on their backs, and hapless men without coin to feed
their families for favouring sins of the flesh. Clint, a bartender who also
runs a small prostitution business on the side takes full advantage of this,
much to the dislike of his pregnant girlfriend.

Wanting to
live as straight and narrow as able given his occupation, Clint easily succumbs
to the curves and pretty face of his bosses wife, before long he’s paying off
cops, contemplating murder, and leaving his girlfriend.

THE CHEATERS
is a highly addictive novel that emphasises all that is noir through a whisky
stained glass. It’s brimming with bad people in a bad place with little or no redeeming
qualities. Much like Goodis, Orrie Hitt is fast becoming one of my favourite
noir/pulp authors.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Innocence,
naivety, ignorance – the PI with the body to moonlight as a bikini model and
the face to go along with it conforms to all three. ‘The nerviest, curviest, PI
in Los Angeles’ is a blonde bombshell following in her murdered father’s
footsteps. H West was once a well known gumshoe, now with Honey West taking
over the family business she faces difficulty in re-establishing the brand,
having to overcome male perception and era stereotypes.

THE GIRL FOR
HIRE is a fun, pulpy murder mystery fully of cheesy dialogue and little realism
(there is a scene where Honey is nearly raped only to then end up playing strip
poker with the man and his friends). The first installment in the Honey West PI
series is to be taken lightly. G.G. Fickling goes to great lengths to embellish
the unbelievable (the killer once unveiled was someone I didn't imagine – it
also makes a mockery of the police involved in the case).

There are
plot holes by virtue of real life contrasts simply not being plausible (an inability
to recognise a murdered person for instance) yet this doesn't come off as a bad
thing. In fact, it adds to the pulpy fun feel of Honey West. Her charisma and
care-free attitude is refreshing, her ignorance, almost enough to get her out
of many tight situations (and not just her bathing suit – of which there are
many references).

The case is
simple and linear – a Hollywood type hires Honey West fearing for his life.
Soon he’s found murdered proving his fears correct. Shortly thereafter Honey is
once again hired by her former clients friend (also in the business) to track
down the killer. Suspects drop quicker than shoddy scripts as the conclusion
draws near – the mystery certainly kept me guessing.

Despite its
shortcomings, THIS GIRL FOR HIRE (pub 1956) is very much the guilty pleasure –
it doesn't do much for the literary senses but does satisfy the craving for
simple pulp entertainment, easily consumed and equally enjoyed.

Side note: There were murmurs online some time ago that Reese Witherspoon had been mentioned to play Honey in a
feature film, however, it looks like this didn't eventuate.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Adam Jordan
is a newspaperman renowned for his ability to report the facts and pump out
print in quick fashion. His job revolves around crime as a spectator after the
event until a beauty queen is found murdered followed by a succession of
others. Retiring the pen and pad for a slice of the detective life, Jordan soon
learns that crime is everywhere and can be committed anyone – even those close
to you.

FALSE
NEGATIVE is a delicious pulp. It’s got the PI angle wrapped up without actually
being about a hardboiled sleuth as Jordan falls into the investigation by
virtue of a seemingly lacking commitment by the authorities to uncover the
killer.

I liked the
unconventional approach author Joseph Koenig took to FALSE NEGATIVE. At its
core, it’s a murder mystery in traditional pulp vein, yet Jordan’s everyday
life and day job are paramount throughout the course of events. The protagonist
wasn’t painted in such a manner as to be the hero, rather, his drive for good
print and a beautiful front page for Real
Detective magazine threw him into a violent and confronting world.

FALSE
NEGATIVE was Joseph Koenig’s first novel in 20yrs and by all account different
from his previous efforts (I haven’t read his others) – I sure hope he
continues to write these stories. Adam Jordan is a character that has got a few
more escapades left in him at Real
Detective magazine.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

This
series of blog posts examines books I’ve acquired which have spend considerable
time on the shelf for one reason or another (in some cases many years). In an
attempt to rediscover what attracted me to these books in the first place, each
fortnight I plan on revisiting a handful with the aim to push them up the TBR
pile and rekindle my interest.

This
third post is more reflection of my genre of choice with books by Elmore
Leonard and Anthony Neil Smith featuring. The books featured as a mix of kindle
and print which I had fully intended to read shortly after acquiring yet have
neglected to get to them for some time.

First up
is DJIBOUTI by none other than Elmore Leonard. I’m a huge fan of Leonard (and
his son) and have read many of his highly enjoyable novels over the years.
DJIBOUTI was a must have as soon as I could, I preordered a copy and had
intended to read as soon as it arrived on my doorstep. Yet my reading didn’t turn
out as I had planned and it’s been overlooked until now.

What
attracted me to DJIBOUTI in the first instance (apart from being written by
Elmore Leonard) was the very cool cover; the story seems a lot of fun too.

THE
LONELIEST by Stacy Cochran is a psychological thriller about an author who has
had to endure the loss of his wife and come to terms with loneliness. There’s a
bit of crazy to this one as the blurb indicates the protagonist struggles with
voices real or otherwise and a blending of reality and fiction which threatens
to overcome his sense of self. This is a book that I’ve been wanting to read
for about a year or so. Very long overdue.

PSYCHOSOMATIC
is the only book by the very awesome Anthony Neil Smith that I’m yet to read. I’ve
loved everything he’s written and am very much looking forward to delving into
this one. PSYCHOSOMATIC is Antony Neil Smith’s debut novel and judging by the
online reviews I’ve read it’s just as good as his later books.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

“Lieutenant,” he said, and shook his head
sorrowfully. “I been on a lot of cases with you and this one started out the
same as the others.” A bashful look spread across his repulsive face for a
moment. “Three gorgeous dames and all! But look how you let it wind up.”
Stunned shock replaced the bliss. “The real cute bally-dancer is a corpse; you
booked the big bouncy blonde for complicity in murder and a whole string of
minor charges and then – “ he shook his head in mute despair “- you go book the
stringy brunette with them bedroom eyes for attempted murder and all! I mean,”
he gargled incoherently, “this is the first time ever I saw you wind up a case
without a dame, Lieutenant!”

Lieutenant
Al Wheeler, while a member of the broader police force has a tendency to act as
a lone PI in the Mike Hammer mould. He’s ruthless in his pursuit of justice and
equally devoted to the finer sex. In THE DANCE OF DEATH Wheeler is called out
to an apparent suicide where a male ballerina is found swinging from a tree on
a wealthy secluded estate. True to form, the list of suspects is confined to
the premises, those within the deceased immediate vicinity. It’s a matter of
Wheeler going through the motions to determine the killer.

There’s
not a lot that distinguishes THE DANCE OF DEATH from other Al Wheeler
investigations. The plot follows a tried and true formula, the dames as
descriptive and deceptive as the other books. Yet I still can’t get enough of
Carter Brown’s Aussie pulp goodness.

The redeeming
quality of THE DANCE OF DEATH is that is does finish in a flurry of layered
twists with the murderer and their intentions chopping and changing as new
facts and players come to light.

Fans of
pulp will eat this up in a single sitting (as I did) and feel immediately satisfied.
THE DANCE OF DEATH is very much a McDonalds for the mind – it’s easy to read,
follows a single plot thread; it personifies all the simplicity of a pulp
written in the golden age.

SATAN’S
LAMBS is more police procedural than PI yet this off balance of investigation
and blind luck leads to an interesting array of characters, leads, and unfortunate
events. Lena Padget, is a smart and sassy PI who has a somewhat undefined
relationship with the law by virtue of her romantic encounters with Detective
Mendez. Like any PI novel, the hardnosed dick has some form of interaction with
the boys in blue, and in this case is more between sheets than competing for
justice.

SATAN’S
LAMBS is driven by the kidnapping of a 4yr old boy presumably to be used in a sacrifice
as part of an offering to the devil by a satanic cult. What makes this horrific
tale even more sinister is the link between Lena’s brother in-law (and murderer
of her sister and nephew) and the case of the missing boy. I got the feeling
there was much more to Lena’s back story with this event mentioned but not
elaborated to any great depth. There are also a number of characters with whom
Lena has built a relationship which feels as though this were a second or third
in a series rather than book 1.

While
there are a number of tension brimming moments and intoxicating chases (the
ending was pretty well constructed), I felt SATAN’S LAMBS was a little two
dimensional with all those characters on the prophetical needing more fleshing
out. I just didn’t find myself caring for much other than the core plot element
surrounding the missing boy.

Despite
its shortcomings, the first boy in the Lena Padget mysteries is well worth the
read. It’s thrilling, fast paced and a tad menacing. The cult aspects and lone
wolf actions of Lena are worth the price of admission.

SATAN’S LAMBS originally
featured on my blog via the Delayed Gratification series of posts. This was a
book I’m glad that didn’t continue to sit on my shelves. View the post HERE